Bottle holder



Nov. 19, 1940. E. L. ARNESON BOTTLE HOLDER Filed April 28, 1938 weawaPatented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE HOLDER EdwinLewis Arneson, Morris, 111.

Application April 28, 1938, Serial No. 204,746

8 Claims.

This invention relates to containers or holders for the packaging of aplurality of bottles or the like, so that they may be carriedconveniently as a unit.

.A general object of the invention is the provision of such a devicewhich may be manufactured economically from sheet material, such aspaper board, which can be packaged and shipped to the user in a fiatknocked-down condition in 10 which each unit occupies but little space,which can be set up by the user at the point of use without specialequipment or additional fastenings, and which, in its set-up condition,forms a suitably strong and stable holder adapted to retain a groupofbottles or the like securely and permit them to be carried conveniently.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of the sortspecified which forms a convenient receptacle into which the bottles maybe placed after the device is set up and from which they may be removedwithout involving any dismantling, taking down or mutilation of it. Yetanother object is the provision of such a holder which aflords retainingmembers for positively holding the bottles against dislodgement, whichmembers are formed from internal portions of the sheet which constitutesthe receptacle or body portion of the holder.

Yet another object is the provision of a device of the sort specifiedwhich affords a very strong and secure handle formed of portions of thesheet which comprises the receptacle or body member. Other and furtherobjects of the invention will he pointed out or indicated hereinafter,or will be apparent from the following description or upon actual use ofone of the devices.

1 I For the purpose of aiding in an explanation of r the invention, Ishow in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification,and hereinafter describe, one form in which it may be embodied. It is tobe understood, however, that this is presented merely for purpose ofillustration and hence is not to be construed in'any fashion for thepurpose of limiting the appended claims short of the true and mostcomprehensive scope of the invention in the art. a In said drawing, Fig.1 is-a perspective view of a bottle holder embodying the presentinvention, showing same in its set-up condition;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on substantially line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view or the blank of which the device shown in Fig. 1is made; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of thedevice in the flat orknocked-down condition in which it is supplied to the user.

An understanding of the invention may be most quickly had from adescription of the illustrative embodiment shown in the drawing.

The holder is formed from a sheet of paper board or the like having theproper strength and stiffness, by first forming a blank such as shown inFig. 3, which is slotted and scored with crease lines to provide partsas follows: A bottom panel 10 comprising portions Ill and I0, eachone-half the width of the intended bottom of the device, is formed bycreased fold lines a, b and b, being conjoined along the lines b and b,with side panels II and II. These side panels are slotted 15 along thesolid lines 0 to form apertures which are normally occupied by tabs I2and I2 which are left conjoined to the side panels along creased foldlines d. Greased fold lines e, ,f and g provide handle panels I4, I5 andI6 which are provided 20- with finger apertures I1, of identical sizeand form.

The bottom and side panels are slotted along arcuate lines It and i andcreased on lines It at the ends thereof, to form retainer members I8 25adjacent the lower corners of the side panels. It will be seen thatthese retainer members are formed partly in the bottom panel, but inlarger part in the side panels, and that they extend across the creasedfold. lines D and b.

After being thus formed by a single blanking operation, the blank isfolded on the crease line a so that panel I I is laid over onto panel II, thus bringing handle panel I6 onto panel I4. Handle panel I5 is thenbent over the margin of panel I6, and the three handle panels fastenedtogether, flat upon one another, by adhesive, and preferably by staplesor stitches I9 adjacent the fold creases e and g. The handle openings I!are thus in register. This completes the manufacturing of the holder,and in this flat form shown in Fig. 4 it is stacked and shipped to theuser.

To set up the holder, the side panels are first flexed apart on creaselines 2 and g, so that their upper portions take a divergentrelationship. At the same time, the bottom panel portions III and I0 maybe flexed apart from each other. This flexing of the panels on creaselines a, b and b and also on the upper crease lines may be accomplishedvery readily by inserting the fingers from opposite sides against theretainer members I8, in such fashion that they are pushed inwardly sothat the portions of the side panels between the adjacent retainermembers may be grasped at the margins between the fingers and thumbs ofthe u into substantially the positions illustrated in Figs.

1 and 2, wherein they extend obliquely across the interior angles at themeeting corners of the bottom and side panels.

The bottles are inserted through the apertures in the upper portions ofthe side panels, the tabs [2 being swung inwardly to approximately thepositions illustrated in Fig. 1. The holder illustrated is designed toreceive six bottles arranged in two rows of three each. The first twobottles inserted through each aperture are moved to the opposite ends ofthe aperture, where they rest upon the portions l8a of the retainermembers and against the upstanding portions l8b thereof, viz., inapproximately the positions represented by the dotted circles V in Fig.2. The third bottle in each row is then inserted between the other twoand stands upon the bottom panel. The height of the holder is designedso that the necks or upper portions of the bottles project from the topopenings, whence they may be withdrawn, provided the middle bottle istaken out first.

The retainer members retain the bottom portions of the bottles againstsliding out of the ends of the holder, and the portions at the ends ofthe side apertures hold the top portions of the bottles against fallingout. Accordingly, all of the bottles are very securely retained in theholder, and may be carried conveniently by the laminated handle formedby the three handle panels.

It will be observed that this handle is very stiff longitudinally, sothat it effectively holds the upper portions of the side panels, whichare necessarily rather narrow at the ends of the bottle-receivingapertures, against swinging toward each other, and it also supports thetop structure against sagging under the weight of the contents.Consequently, the structure is quite stable and the strength of thematerial is utilized to best advantage. The tabs 12 and I2, in additionto forming separators between the upper portions of the bottles in theopposite rows, cooperate with the conjoined portions of the bodymaterial along the fold lines d, as well as with the three-ply handlestructure, to form a beamlike strut or stiffening member at the top ofthe receptacle, which additionally supports it against buckling orweaving.

It will be observed that the entire structure is formed entirely withinthe outline of a simple rectangle, and substantially without any wastewhatever, as the only unused portions of the material are the blankspunched from the handle apertures I'I.

What I claim is:

l. A knock-down container for carrying bottles or the like, comprising asheet of paper board creased to provide a bottom panel and side panelsadapted to occupy upstanding positions at its opposite side margins,portions of some of said panels being slotted out to form retainerstrips which have opposite ends connected to different panels and arebendable inwardly from the side panels, by flexure along lines which areapproximately parallel with side margins of the side panels, topositions wherein they present side faces in upwardly extendingpositions over the end portions of the bottom panel so as to act asstops to retain bottles against sliding of! thereof, a. handle beingprovided at the upper ends of the side panels whereby the container maybe carried.

2. A knock-down container for carrying bottles or the like, comprising asheet of paper board creased to provide a bottom panel and side panelsadapted to occupy upright positions at opposite side margins of thebottom panel when the container is in set-up condition, portions of someof said panels being slotted out to form retainer strips which haveopposite ends connected to different panels and which are bendableinwardly from! the side panels, along lines of bend which extend towardthe side margins of the bottom panel, to positions over the end portionsof the bottom panel where they present broad surfaces facing inwardlyfrom the ends of the bottom panel to act as stops to retain bottlesagainst sliding off thereof, a handle being provided at the upper endsof the side panels, whereby the container may be carried.

3. A container for carrying battles or the like substantially asspecified in claim 2 and wherein the upper portions of the side panelsare connected to each other and said side panels are provided, belowsaid connection, with apertures through which bottles may be insertedand withdrawn to and from positions where they stand upright on thebottom panel intermediate the retainer strips at opposite ends thereof.

4. A container as specified in claim 2 and wherein each of said retainerstrips remains integrally connected at one of its ends to a side paneland at its other end to the bottom panel along a line of bend on whichit folds toward the adjacent end of the bottom panel.

5. A container for carrying bottles or the like, comprising a sheet ofpaper board creased to provide a bottom panel and side panels connectedto opposite side margins of the bottom panel and flexible to upstandingpositions relative thereto, band-like retainer strips being slotted outof some of said panels but remaining connected at opposite ends todifferent panels from which said strips are bendable inwardly topositions over end portions of the bottom panel when the container isset up, the lines on which said strips are adapted to bend inwardly fromthe side panels extending toward the side margins of the bottom panel sothat in their inwardly bent positions said strips present broad surfacesfacing inwardly from the ends of the bottom panel, to act as retainermembers to prevent bottles sliding off thereof, the side panels beingprovided at their upper ends with a handle whereby the container may becarried.

6. A container for carrying bottles or the like as specified in claim 5and wherein upper portions of the side panels are connected to eachother below the handle and the side panels are provided below saidconnection with apertures through which bottles may be introduced to andremoved. from positions between said retainer members.

7. A bottle carrier comprising a one-piece folding carton having abottom and two sides hingedly joined to the bottom, adjacent portions ofthe bottom and sides having pairs of arcuate slits formed therein, saidslits extending across the joints between the adjacent portions adjacentthe corners of the bottom and having their concave sides toward theadjacent bottom corner, both slits of each pair extending into thebottom and one of the sides but the slit of each pair which is farthestfrom the adjacent bottom corner being of greater length than the otherso that when the sides are swung to angular positions relative to thebottom, portions of the bottom and sides between the slits of the pairsare adapted to be bent out of the bottom and sides toward the adjacentends of the bottom to provide bottle-retaining straps over respectiveend portions of the bottom.

8. A bottle carrier comprising a onepiece folding carton having a bottompanel and two side panels hingedly joined to opposite margins of thebottom, adjacent portions of the bottom and side panels having pairs ofslits formed therein, the slits extending across the joints between thepanels adjacent the corners of the bottom panel and defining the marginsof strap-like elements which remain connected at their ends to thepanels in which they are formed, both slits of each pair extending intothe bottom panel and one of the side panels but the slit of each pairwhich is farthest from the adjacent end of the bottom extending fartherinto the side panel than the other slit of the pair, so that when thesides are in angular relationship to the bottom, portions of the bottomand side panels between the adjacent slits are adapted to be bentinwardly from the side panels and toward the adjacent end of the bottompanel to provide an upstanding bottle-retaining strap adjacent eachcorner of the latter.

EDWIN LEWIS ARNESON.

